Electric safe-lock.



' No. 7|5,334. Patented nen. sa,I 1902. j J. M. ALLEN. v

ELECTBIG SAFE LUCK.

(Application led June 7, 1901. Renewed May 15, 1902.)

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UNITED STATES Arent JAMES M. ALLEN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ELEVEN AND ONE- HALF TWENTIETHS TO GEORGE H. PRICE AND ISABEL H. NELSON, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURL ELECTRIC SAFE-LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 715,334, dated December 9, 1902.

Application filed June 7, 190].. Renewed May 15, 1902. Serial No. 107,468. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.- tric current. Each end of the bar l termi- Be it known that I, JAMES M. ALLEN, a citi-` natos in an expanded head 2, the latter being zen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, additionally insulated from the coil O O by State of Missouri, have invented certain new an insulatingdisk 3. The electromagnet and useful Improvements in Electric Safewhen energized serves to attract to itself the 55 Locks, of which the following is a full, clear, armatures a 4, which are but the terminal exand exact description, reference being had to panded heads of the stems 5 5 of the bolts or the accompanying drawings, forming a part latches 6, normallyfengaging the sockets hereof. formed for their reception in the side walls lo My invention has relation to improvements of the openin g which receives the door, it be- 6o in electric safe-locks; and rit consists in the ing understood that normally the bolts 5 6 are novel construction of lock and door combined, retained in their locked or engaged positions more fully set forth in the specification and underthe resilient actions of the coiledsprings pointed out in the claims. 7, encircling the stems 5 5 and bearing with In the drawings, Figure l is a front elevatheir opposite ends, respectively, against the 65 tion of a safe, showing my invention applied bases of the bolts proper and the guide-walls thereto. Fig. 2 is a transverse section on line for the stems. The wire constituting the coil- 2 2 of Fig. l, and Fig. 3 is an inside elevation sections C O is of course continuous, one end of the parts shown in Fig. 2. contacting directly with the inner surface of 2o The object of my invention is to construct the door and the opposite end following a zig- 7o an electrically-operated lock for safe-doors zag course through thedoor (though it may which will permit the use of a door devoid of takethe straight course, as shown by dotted hinges, door-knobs, or similar devices which lines in Fig. 2) and terminating at the insuproject beyond the face of the door and the lated metallic button S, which latter is flush walls of the safe carrying the same, it being with the outer surface of the door. The wire 75 Well known that these projecting portions connecting these'ctionsCOpreferablyfollows serve as vulnerable points at which the door along the bar l. Adapted to be retained temcan be attacked by prospective dynamiters porarily against the door by means of magand safe-wreckersnetic attraction is a handle-bar H, having ter- The present invention possesses many adminal bent arms surrounded by coils O' C, 8o vantages better apparent from a detailed derespectively, the inner ends of the coils terscription thereof, which is as follows: minating in contact-buttons 8 8, respec- Referring to the drawings, S represents a tively, the former being adapted to contact safe or vault of any prevailing design and apwith the terminal button 8 referred to and f 3 5 proved construction, a section of the Wall the latter with the surface of the safe-door. 85 A thereof being removed for the accommodation The opposite ends of the coils O O are couof a door D, which when fully inserted into nected, respectively, toasuitable electric genthe opening made therefor will come flush erator, (not shown,) a switch 9 being inter- With the outer surface of the safe, and thereposed in the path of one of the wires for clos- 40 fore will have no vulnerable points capable ing and breaking the circuit. 9o of being attackedbyaprospectivedynamiter. Referring now to Fig. 2 of the drawings Formed in the rear surface of the door D is a and assuming that the switch 9 is closed, the chamber or recess for the'reception of two electric current will travel, as indicated by sections C C of an electric coil, the sections the arrows, through coil O', contacts 8 8,

encircling a common bar l, supported by a through the electromagnet C C, through the 95 wooden block B, screwed to the door, said door D, and thence through the contact 8, block serving at the same time to keep the coil C", back to the generator. Thus the cirsections C C spaced properly apart. The seccuit will be complete, energizing not only tions O C and the bar l form an electromagthe bar l to a degree sufficient to attract the 5o net when the coil C C is traversed by an elecarmatures 4c and retract the bolts 6 from their Ioo once leaves the bar l, permitting the springs' sockets, but energizing the barI-I, which now becomes a magnetic handle for the door, to which it is strongly attracted. Thus the closing of the circuit not only retracts the bolts 6 6, but results in forming a temporary handle H for the door, by means of which handle the door (with its bolts now retracted) can now be removed from the safe-Wall. When the door is restored to its proper place in the safe and the circuit opened by the opening of the switch 9, the magnetism at to force the bolts back into their sockets, the handle Hunder the circumstances releasing its magnetic hold on the door. When the handle H is not in use, it may be hung upon a bracket, as shown by dotted position of parts in Fig. l.

The object of causing the end of the Wire leading from the coil-sections C C to take a zigzag course through the door is to prevent a dynamiter or safe-Wrecker from tapping the door along a direct opening leading to the coils and destroying or dislodging the latter and the bolts in their proximity.

It is apparent that I may depart in minor details from the present construction Without affecting the nature or spirit of my in- Vention.

.Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In a safe, asuitable door, a movable bolt locking the same to the body of the safe, an electromagnet placed in cooperative relation With said bolt, and an electromagnet for energizing the magnet from the outside of the safe, and reti-acting the bolt from its locked position, the said electromagnet serving as a temporary handle for the door, substantially as set forth.

2. In a safe, a suitable door, a sliding spring-actuated bolt normally locking the door to the safe, an electromagnet coperating with said bolt, a handle-bar having terminals or arms adapted to contact with the outer face of the door, andcoils Wound about said arms, the inner end of said coils adapted to form electrical connections through the door respectively with the opposite ends of the Wire of the coil constituting the said electromagnet, the opposite ends of the coils on said handle-bar leading to a suitable source of electric energy, the parts operating sub'- stantially as, and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a safe, a suitable door, a handle-bar having terminals adapted to con tact With the body of the door, means for magnetically energizing said handle-bar whereby the same is attracted to the door, and a lock for the door, the lock being adapted to release the door at the moment of the magnetization of the handle-bar, substantially as set forth.

4. In a safe, a suitable door having a bolt normally locking the door to the safe, a handle-bar magnetically energized and adapted to be placed against the outside of the door, and intermediate connections between said handle-bar and bolt for automatically retracting the bolt from its locked position, upon contact of the handle-bar With said door, substantially as set forth.

5. In a safe, a suitable door, a handle-bar having terminals adapted to contact with the body of the door, and means for magnetically energizing the handle-bar, whereby the same is attracted to the door, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES M. ALLEN.

Witnesses:

EMIL STAREK, GEO. H. PRICE. 

